Being green isn't so easy when toxic chemicals are being used at so many levels in the nursery and landscaping industries. So how to begin addressing the problem?

One option is to start at home - by purchasing organically-grown plants whenever possible. Since organically-grown ornamentals can be hard to find, just ask your retailers if they can verify what, if anything, plants were sprayed with before they showed up on the nursery benches. Most very large stores' staff probably cannot answer that question. Small nurseries, on the other hand, probably can, as they are either growing the plants themselves or obtaining them from growers whom they know on a first-name basis. This means they can find out directly from their trusted, established growers what sprays if any are used.

Another option is to commit to gardening in future without using toxic chemicals. Overlook neighborhood already has some 275 households committed to landscaping without using toxic chemicals since June 2013, thanks in part to Sustainable Overlook - a program which aims to raise awareness about the importance of protecting health, water and habitat for pollinators, wildlife and human inhabitants.

Sustainable Overlook was co-founded by a group of Overlook neighbors including Alice Busch, Leslee Lewis and Mulysa Melco. Growing out of Overlook's neighborhood association, the three started a sustainability group. A few years later, they partnered with Metro's Pesticide-Free Gardening program to promote pesticide-free gardening on an even more local level. (Another neighborhood - Sabin, in inner NE Portland - created the popular Bee-Friendly Garden Tour a few years ago, which also promotes pesticide-free gardening.)